China's presence looms amid massive U.S.-Japanese AnnualEx war games

By Paul Armstrong, CNN

Updated 9:37 AM ET, Thu November 28, 2013

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Jewel in U.S. Navy's Asian crown – As the United States prepared to mark Thanksgiving, the centerpiece of the U.S. 7th fleet in the Pacific, the USS George Washington, was deployed off the Japanese island of Okinawa.

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Super carrier in pictures12 photos

Super carrier's cutting edge – Almost every few minutes an F-18 fighter jet roared off the deck as a massive joint exercise with the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force got underway.

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Super carrier in pictures12 photos

Ground control – An FA-18 fighter aircraft sweeps in to land on the USS George Washington.

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Primed for action – The carrier's flight deck crew -- wearing colored vests according to the duties they perform -- are responsible for flight ops night and day.

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Commanding the fleet – Led by the huge Nimitz-class carrier, this year's AnnualEX 2013 war games brought together dozens of warships from both navies to test their ability to work effectively in a volatile region.

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Super carrier in pictures12 photos

Attention on deck – With over 5,000 crew and 80 aircraft, the USS George Washington is the U.S. Navy's only carrier deployed permanently outside the United States.

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Super carrier in pictures12 photos

Air armada – AnnualEx is designed to increase the defensive readiness and interoperability of U.S. naval forces and their Japanese counterparts.

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Japanese partners at sea – The Japanese task force, commanded by Vice Admiral Yasushi Matsushita, featured many of its own state-of-the-art vessels, including this Hyūga-class helicopter carrier.

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Close formation – Some 23 vessels from the U.S. Navy and Japan Maritime Self-defense force were involved in the drills in Japanese waters.

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Seek and destroy – The U.S. contingent also includes guided missile cruisers and guided missile destroyers.

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War games underway – AnnualEx 2013 is taking place at a time of rising tensions in the region, with Japan and China at the center.

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Heavy protection – Many of the carrier's aircraft are there solely to protect the strike fleet.

Story highlights

CNN reporter aboard carrier as dozens of warships, subs and aircraft take part

This year's games held against backdrop of tension after China imposes new air zone

China announced a new Air Defense Identification Zone, angering U.S. and Japan

The deafening roar of state-of-the-art warplanes being catapulted into the air from its huge flight deck signaled that the USS George Washington was back in combat mode after its recent detour to the Philippines to take part in the aid effort in the wake of Super Typhoon Haiyan.

Barely a week on and the 90,000-ton Nimitz-class aircraft carrier is now patrolling waters off the island of Okinawa as part a huge naval exercise -- AnnualEx 2013 -- involving dozens of warships, submarines and aircraft from the U.S. Navy's 7th fleet and the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF).

The aim? To provide a stern test of their ability to effectively and mutually respond to the defense of Japan or to a regional crisis or contingency situation in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region, according to the U.S. Navy.

But this year's war games have taken on an added dimension given the high-pressure atmosphere in the region at present -- they take place in the shadow of a controversial new Air Defense Identification Zone announced by the Chinese last weekend.

This zone, which incorporates among other areas an East China Sea island chain at the center of an acrimonious tug of war between Tokyo and Beijing, requires that all military aircraft in the area must report their flight plans to China, maintain two-way radio and clearly mark their nationalities on the aircraft. China has warned it will take "defensive measures" if their orders are ignored.

Map showing the controversial air defense identification zone in the East China Sea.

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U.S. aircraft carrier classes 22 photos

U.S. aircraft carrier classes22 photos

Three Nimitz-class aircraft carriers USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70), top, USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76), center, and USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) are pierside at Naval Air Station North Island near San Diego on June 12, 2015. The Vinson has just recently returned from a 10-month deployment. The Reagan is preparing for a move to Japan later this year and the Stennis was making a port call after steaming from its homeport of Bremerton, Washington. Click through the gallery to see more U.S. Navy aircraft carriers.

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The aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt departs Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia, on Wednesday, March 11, for a scheduled deployment. The Nimitz-class carrier's departure was delayed for two days after marine growth clogged sea water intakes. Divers went into the 36-degree water to clean out the intakes and allow the ship to get under way. The cold water created a fog that made it seem the ship was in a cloud.

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A rainbow forms over the bow of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis as the ship steams in the Pacific Ocean on February 3, 2015.

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The USS Abraham Lincoln, a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, is seen near the coast of Indonesia in 2005. The carrier recently received a new anchor from the decommissioned USS Enterprise.

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U.S. aircraft carrier classes – The USS Ronald Reagan, a member of the Nimitz class of aircraft carriers, enters San Diego harbor in July 2004. The U.S. Navy announced that the ship will join the U.S. 7th Fleet in Yokosuka, Japan.

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The USS Ranger (CV-61) arrives at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, in 1993. The Forrestal-class carrier, which featured in the movie "Top Gun," is to be scrapped this year.

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In this photo released by the U.S. Navy, a tugboat works alongside the decommissioned aircraft carrier USS Saratoga on Thursday, August 21, in Newport, Rhode Island. The Navy has paid a Texas recycling company a penny to dispose of the Saratoga, part of the Forrestal-class of "supercarrier" vessels built for the Atomic Age. The carrier was decommissioned 20 years ago.

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Ben Hansen, a U.S. Navy boatswain's mate, and his wife, Jessica, join in the festivities as the Navy's newest nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, gets christened in November in Newport News, Virginia. The Gerald R. Ford is the first ship in the Navy's newest class of aircraft carriers under the same name.

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Lightning strikes over the flight deck of the USS John C. Stennis, another Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, as the ship moves through the Persian Gulf in 2007. All of the Navy's 10 active aircraft carriers are from the Nimitz class, which started in 1975 with the commission of the USS Nimitz.

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Aircrew members are lifted from the flight deck of the USS John F. Kennedy during an exercise in 2002. The ship, which was decommissioned in 2007, was the only member of its class.

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U.S. aircraft carrier classes22 photos

An F/A-18 Hornet launches from the USS Enterprise in 2007. The Enterprise, the world's first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, was decommissioned in 2012. Like the John F. Kennedy, it was the only ship built in its class.

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The Kitty Hawk class was named for the USS Kitty Hawk, seen here departing Yokosuka, Japan, in 2008. At that time, the Kitty Hawk was the oldest carrier in the U.S. Navy and the only conventional-power aircraft carrier still in commission. It was decommissioned in 2009.

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The USS Independence, a member of the Forrestal class that preceded the Kitty Hawk class, heads up the East River in New York in 1959.

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Helicopters sit on the flight deck of the USS Saipan during the mid-1950s. The ship was one of two members of the Saipan class.

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The USS Midway, namesake of the Midway class of aircraft carriers, floats off the coast of North Vietnam in 1972. It was named after the Battle of Midway, when U.S. forces held back a Japanese attempt to take the Pacific atoll in 1942.

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The USS Princeton, part of the Independence class, moves off the coast of Seattle in 1944.

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The Essex-class USS Franklin burns after being hit by a Japanese dive bomber in 1945. The ship was named after Benjamin Franklin and nicknamed "Big Ben."

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The USS Wasp burns in the Coral Sea after being struck by three torpedoes from a Japanese submarine in 1942. The ship, the only one of its class, would ultimately sink because of the damage.

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B-25 bombers sit on the deck of the USS Hornet in the Pacific Ocean in 1942. The Hornet, one of three carriers in the Yorktown class, was the ship that launched the bombers flown by Air Force Lt. Col. James Doolittle and his pilots during an air raid in Tokyo four months after the attack on Pearl Harbor. It also was involved in the Battle of Midway.

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Navy personnel work on board the USS Ranger circa 1942. The Ranger was the first ship to be designed and built specifically as an aircraft carrier. It was the only ship in its class.

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There have actually been two aircraft carriers named after the Revolutionary War's Battle of Saratoga. The first USS Saratoga, seen here moving toward San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge in 1945, was one of two members of the Lexington class of aircraft carriers.

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The USS Langley, the Navy's first aircraft carrier and sole member of its class, steams off the coast of Baltimore in 1924.

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EXPAND GALLERY

Images: China's nuclear fleet 6 photos

Images: China's nuclear fleet6 photos

Founding China's nuclear fleet – Chinese soldiers take part in the founding ceremony of the submarine fleet in 1971. China declassified its first fleet of nuclear submarines for the first time on Sunday, October 27. The official debut of the fleet was in 2009, when the PLA navy celebrated the 60th anniversary of its founding with two nuclear submarines of the Chinese navy leading a spectacular parade.

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Long March to war? – China's Long March 2 nuclear submarine is seen during a launch ceremony in 1977.

Sub safety – A Chinese navy nuclear submarine takes part in a nuclear safety drill at the Qingdao submarine base in east China's Shandong province on October 26, 2010. The fleet has had a remarkable safety record for more than 40 years and has gained rich experience through rigorous training and drills, its fleet commanders said.

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Keeping it clean – Soldiers clean and disinfect a nuclear submarine at the Qingdao submarine base in east China's Shandong province on July 17.

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Reactor care – Soldiers walk past the submarine's nuclear reaction cabin at the Qingdao base in east China's Shandong province on September 3.

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EXPAND GALLERY

'Steady as you go'

The commander of the U.S. 7th fleet, Vice Admiral Robert L. Thomas, appeared relaxed about the situation while addressing a group of reporters aboard the USS George Washington. He said while China's air defense zone did not appear to be "well thought out" given the overlap with both Japanese and South Korean territorial claims, he did not think U.S. military activity in the region would be negatively affected.

"We are going to continue with our operations in international airspace as we always have," he said. "It's about international norms, standards, rules and laws. When anybody makes an extreme claim it is really an imperative that the international community can continue to operate in accordance with international law and not be distracted.

"So for us it's 'steady as you go.' Our operations in the East China Sea will continue as they always have."

'Profoundly dangerous'

Japan, which administers the largely uninhabited island chain -- known as Diaoyu by China and Senkaku by the Japanese -- has described China's move as "a profoundly dangerous act that may cause unintended consequences in the area," while U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said "this unilateral action constitutes an attempt to change the status quo in the East China Sea. Escalatory action will only increase tensions in the region and create risks of an incident."

China has rebuffed any criticism by stating that its action is not directed at any one in particular, and that other countries -- including Japan -- have established similar control zones in the past.

In recent months, both sides have been involved in a dangerous game of "cat and mouse," prompting fears that any miscalculation could set the two Asian powers on a collision course -- with the United States likely to be dragged into such a conflict to defend its Japanese ally. Tokyo says it has twice scrambled fighter jets this month after Chinese aircraft appeared on course to enter its airspace. For its part, China lodged a complaint after it said a Japanese warship recently entered waters where the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy was holding live-fire drills, noting "the provocative move may have led to unexpected emergencies."

Meanwhile, China's first aircraft carrier, the "Liaoning," set sail this week from its home port of Qingdao in eastern China. According to the PLA Navy's website, it will head for the South China Sea to "conduct scientific experiments and military training." This course would take it through the East China Sea accompanied by four other warships.

Restraint

Yet with so many potential flashpoints in the region, Thomas is optimistic that conflict will be avoided. He pointed to the professionalism shown by the armed forces on all sides in the region as the basis for this confidence.

"The South Koreans have shown great restraint with regard to North Korea and those severe provocations, while the Japanese Self Defense Force has also been very measured," he said. Significantly, he pointed to China's development of a "world class" navy, with a level of professionalism that matches its improving infrastructure.

"The more confident they become in their own capabilities, then this will actually 'depressurize' the situation," he said. He added that the People's Liberation Army Navy was no longer an unpredictable, conscription-based force training only at certain times of the year.

He said the PLA Navy was now showing signs of being able to operate far beyond its own waters, carrying out missions -- such as anti-piracy patrols -- that could make it a useful and responsible global operator.

Humanitarian challenge

With F-18 fighters taking off and landing almost every few minutes, it was easy to forget the role the carrier played in the Leyte Gulf more than a week ago. Many of its fighter jets were flown back to Japan to make room for more helicopters able to ferry in supplies to remote areas of the Philippines in the wake of Super Typhoon Haiyan.

"The ship became a 'lily pad' for relief operations," said the carrier's commander, Rear Admiral Mark Montgomery. "This is something we'll train more for," he added, citing the need for a modern navy to be able to adapt to an increasingly diverse range of challenges and missions within its theater of operations.

"It was humbling to be able to take part in the extraordinary humanitarian effort in the Philippines."

Yet the sight of dozens of warships in tight formation in high seas off Japan was another reminder of how serious the U.S. and Japan are taking the threat to regional security -- undeniably their biggest challenge.